Scouting Activities and Permits

There are hundreds of activities that scouts of all ages take part in every week. Some of them do have specific rules and guidelines to follow, such as needing a permit holder to lead them or to ensure that an external provider meets certain requirements. Contrary to what you may have heard there are very few banned activities. and you don’t need a signed piece of paper for most things!

As a starting point take a look at the A to Z of Activities – designed to take you to all the information you need to run certain activities, or perhaps inspire you to try something new. Whilst we hope it is not needed do check that relevant insurance is in place.

if your Section uses On-Line Scout Manager did you realise there are lots of activities, games and plans on there too? Just search for the one you like and add it straight into your term programme, badge requirements and all

visit our Market Place and see scouting owned places in Cambridgeshire to use for meetings, sleepovers and camps as well as resources you can hire or borrow (from minibuses to catering kit)

build contacts with other leaders in your Group and District. District meetings and events can be a great way to do so

arrange to visit other sections across Cambridgeshire to see what they get up to – perhaps arrange some joint events or offer to swap an evening you can run with one they could run for you.

invite older sections to run an activity for you – it shows young people taking the lead and acting as great role models it often covers badges for all involved

if you use Facebook join your District group, join the Cambridgeshire Scouts group or search for groups such as such as 1st Facebook Beavers / Cubs / Scouts / Explorers

Please don’t forget if you have a great activity or event you have run why not add it to one or more of those sites / pages / groups so that others can use your experiences to expand their programme too!

An introduction to the activity permit schemeLouise Clover2019-02-16T15:21:24+00:00

One of the main barriers to young people accessing the outdoor and adventure programme is volunteers’ understanding of what they need to do or have in order to undertake various activities. This resource guides you through the steps required, from offering activities to gaining your own permit.

For any support in delivering an activity or to arrange an informal chat with the activities team about the sort of permit you would like to gain please just Get in Touch.

The Nights Away Permit (NAP) scheme is designed to provide adults in scouting the chance to acquire and improve relevant skills, providing reassurance to parents and carers of the young people taking part that those leading nights away events have demonstrated their competence to do so.

There are 4 different types of NAP available (indoor, campsite, greenfield and lightweight expedition). Full details of the scheme and how permits are assessed are explained here.

To earn your first Nights Away Permit, or to renew an existing one, you will need to contact a Cambridgeshire Nights Away Advisor. This usually someone in your own District.

It is really simple for anyone with access to COMPASS to search for an activity or Nights Away permit holder or assessor, but results will vary depending on your role. You should be able to see anyone who is in your “hierarchy”, so for example a Group Scout Leader will see all those in their Scout Group and their contact details whilst a Training Advisor can see the entire county. For everyone else, if the permit holder has set their account to “visible” you will see the name and District details.